If all was lost and it came down to suicide or "to disappear", I'd disappear and do it in a nice climate. Why would you want to be homeless in NYC, Chicago or Boston? The winters would turn you into a bumsicle. Mom is still an asshat for doing that to her children.

ok, i admit living in the schlong state for 30 years - never a dull moment! this lady is the prototypical older florida chick, surviving on natty lite and generic cigarettes, hanging out with dirtbag alcoholics on the welfare.

So she has now screwed her family twice. Once when she left, and now they're going to have to figure out how to give back all that life insurance money that probably paid for kids' college educations, the mortgage and other things that are no so easy to return.

JerkStore:So she has now screwed her family twice. Once when she left, and now they're going to have to figure out how to give back all that life insurance money that probably paid for kids' college educations, the mortgage and other things that are no so easy to return.

But yeah, she's nuts.

In this case, I think the insurance company's tort is against the mother, not the husband. He went through the process of having her declared dead in good faith, after all, and after a very reasonable period of time.

In other words, they are going to have to write this one off I think. No chance of crazy lady ever paying them back.

Over the last few years I've been growing a stash of cash and basics hidden about a hundred yards off a hiking trail. I've worked out a fairly detailed plan of where to leave my car, what to do with my wallet and cell phone and how to melt into the background. If you don't have an exit plan you're fooling yourself and you will regret it.

"Burney had had a lot of life insurance, Sentell notes. Both his wife and his company got death benefits. When he reappeared, the life insurance company sued him, his first wife, and his company. For technical reasons, the court found that the beneficiaries didn't have to return the money, but Burney himself wasn't so lucky. The court ruled his actions were fraudulent and entered judgment against him for $470,000."

CheatCommando:In this case, I think the insurance company's tort is against the mother, not the husband. He went through the process of having her declared dead in good faith, after all, and after a very reasonable period of time.

I don't think so. Hubby did nothing wrong but he still was enriched unjustly. She had no duty to keep the insurer informed that she was alive. Hubby is on the hook unless there's some law or contractual provision that there's no take-backs in case of mistaken death certificates. He would owe the insurer a refund and his recourse would be to sue her.

Detective Sgt. John Schofield with the Lititz Borough Police Department told KeysNet that after taking her then 8- and 12-year-old kids to school, Heist met with a group of homeless people planning to hitchhike to Florida.

BarkingUnicorn:I don't think so. Hubby did nothing wrong but he still was enriched unjustly. She had no duty to keep the insurer informed that she was alive. Hubby is on the hook unless there's some law or contractual provision that there's no take-backs in case of mistaken death certificates. He would owe the insurer a refund and his recourse would be to sue her.

Interesting. If she had no duty to inform the insurer, does she have a duty to inform the beneficiary? How would he have recourse?

John Burney reappeared on December 1, 1982, when he returned to Arkansas to visit his father after having been injured in an industrial accident. He wanted to sue, but his lawyer told him he would have to make complete disclosure of his past.

Burney had had a lot of life insurance, Sentell notes. Both his wife and his company got death benefits. When he reappeared, the life insurance company sued him, his first wife, and his company. For technical reasons, the court found that the beneficiaries didn't have to return the money, but Burney himself wasn't so lucky. The court ruled his actions were fraudulent and entered judgment against him for $470,000.

Certainly, a reasonable person would understand the consequences of their disappearance and that they are causing losses through their decision to, essentially, fake their death.